EFCC Boss, Bawa Accused Of Shielding NIMASA DG Over Alleged Diversion Of N1.5Trillion,$9.8Million—-A civic organisation, Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) and Civil Society Partners, has slammed the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdurasheed Bawa, for allegedly obstructing justice and shielding the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Mr Bashir Jamoh.
The group alleged that the EFCC, under the leadership of Mr Bawa, has refused to carry out a thorough investigation into the alleged diversion of funds, to the tune of N1.5 trillion and $9.8 million by the DG of NIMASA.
Addressing journalists on Wednesday over Bawa’s comprised stand in the case, the group and its CSO partners called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the EFCC Chairman to allow the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to take over Jamoh’s case.
CPA alleged that Bawa’s alleged compromise in the investigation may be connected to the scholarships Mr Jamoh reportedly gave to three siblings of the EFCC Chairman, namely Mustapha Bawa Yusuf, Bawa Hassan Ibrahim and Haruna Mustapha Bawa.
The Executive Director of CPA, Olufemi Lawson, who addressed journalists, stated in the text of the address obtained by SaharaReporters that the group views Bawa’s stands as maladministration and abuse of office.
1665231846216_MUSTAPHA BAWA YUSUF ADMISSION LETTER
Olufemi said, “Our focus and address today, is premised on the worrisome involvement of the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Abdurasheed Bawa, whose actions, and abuse of office, is beginning to constitute an obstruction to the cause of justice.
“We have waited till today to see if the EFCC, under the leadership of Mr Bawa, will do the needful, as challenged by DG NIMASA himself, to carry out a thorough investigation, into the allegations of diversion of funds, amounting to the tune of N1.5 trillion and $9.8 m respectively, but till date, nothing visible to Nigerians, including our independent findings, has been done by the EFCC.
BAWA HASSAN IBRAHIM ADMISSION LETTER
“Recall that on May 21, 2021, an online newspaper, Point Blank published an exclusive story in which the newspaper alleged that the DG of NIMASA, Mr Bashir Jamoh, was involved in some shady deals, ranging from blatant corruption and abuse of office.
“We were pleasantly surprised when the accused Mr Bahir Jamoh openly challenged the EFCC to investigate him and make public his findings.”
Olufemi said regrettably, after more than a year, it has become a hide-and-seek game, as nothing has been heard, from the EFCC.
“It was during this period having followed the allegations with keen interest that we stumbled on reasons, why these allegations against Mr Jamoh, may have been swept under the carpet.
“Curiously, three of the EFCC Chairman’s siblings namely; Mustapha Bawa Yusuf, Bawa Hassan Ibrahim and Haruna Mustapha Bawa are enjoying ‘scholarships’ from Mr Jamoh that the EFCC ought to be investigating at that time. We wonder if this is not corruption and the negotiation for the compromise of the investigation which should have been conducted on Bashir Jamoh; that is, if something is been done in that regard at all.
“The details of how they became beneficiary is in the attached documents. We view this as an act of maladministration and abuse of office from the EFCC chairman whose brothers are being sponsored by an accused that is under his radar.
“We want President Muhammadu Buhari to step into this matter, and direct the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to take over Bashir Jamoh’s case with the view to get to the root of the matter.
“We also want the National Assembly, especially the Senate to ask the EFCC chairman to step aside, while a thorough investigation is carried out to unravel the mystery behind the ‘scholarships’ given to his siblings.
“We have monitored the EFCC chairman and have discovered that he’s always playing to the gallery instead of facing the task of preventing and fighting corruption headlong.
“To buttress our stand that Abdurasheed Bawa is cherry-picking in his investigations two cases will suffice here:
“You are all aware of the corruption allegations against the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa. Apart from the sensational report in the media, up till today, more than two years after, he has not been charged and neither has the case been conclusive.
“Whereas in the case of another Assembly Speaker in nearby Ogun State, Mr Olakunle Oluomo was promptly arrested at the airport and charged to court, by the Bawa-led EFCC. Is this not a case of double standard or cherry-picking depending on who’s involved?
“Without prejudice to the ongoing case, EFCC chairman was in the news for the wrong reason recently when he was sentenced for contempt.
“A judge ruled that a Sport utility Range Rover and N40m be returned to the owner since 2017 and he declined until the judge made that consequential order that he should be arrested and sent to Kuje prison.
“He also did not obey the ruling until he got an appeal court order to vacate the ruling.”
The disturbing claims have been made by influencer and former OnlyFans star Lauren Pisciotta, who has already sued West once before.
In June, the social media star alleged that he sexually harassed and stalked her while she worked for him from 2021 until 2022.
West, 47, denied the previous claims and branded them ‘baseless’. While yet to file a defence, he accused Pisciotta, 36, of ‘blackmail and extortion’.
Now, her latest bombshell lawsuit makes a string of unsettling accusations, including West having sick sexual obsessions and fantasising about wanting to sleep with his targets’ mothers, including the family of his wife Bianca Censori.
Former Yeezy employee Pisciotta has said she first met the Gold Digger hitmaker when he invited her and a client to a studio session and party co-hosted by himself and Combs.
According to legal documents obtained by DailyMail, she was handed a drink by West himself, after which she ‘started to feel disorientated’ before she slipped into ‘a highly impaired state’.
‘She felt less in control of her body and speech, and that is where [her] memories of the night escape [her],’ it has been claimed.
The next day, Pisciotta felt ‘ashamed and embarrassed’ that she couldn’t recall the evening’s events while her musician client, who attended with her, refused to discuss what happened.
Pisciotta has said she only discovered the truth years later in West’s final weeks as her boss, understanding why her client felt ‘too traumatised’ to speak out until then.
After originally believing she had been drugged by a studio assistant but managing to get home without being attacked, Pisciotta learnt the extent of the night’s events from West himself.
West’s ex-wife – not named in the lawsuit but believed to be Kim Kardashian, who is his only former spouse – allegedly commented on him and Pisciotta having an affair in November 2022, to which Pisciotta said she wanted to contact her to set the record straight.
Pisciotta believed Kardashian, 43, who married West in 2014, was ‘under the wrong impression’ about their working relationship.
However, she has claimed West told her she couldn’t send a message to clear the air, because of what happened at the Santa Monica party.
‘We did, kind of, hook up a little one time,’ the lawsuit claimed West told Pisciotta.
‘[West] then immediately proceeded to reminisce about the time he was referring to… where he “hooked up” with [Pisciotta] after she had been drugged,’ the lawsuit added.
Pisciotta claimed West had told Kardashian they ‘hooked up’ but ‘left out the true nature and severity of what he did to [her]’.
Had Kardashian ‘been told the truth and known [Pisciotta] was, in fact, drugged and sexually assaulted by Kanye West’ she would never have made the comment, the lawsuit states.
Pisciotta allegedly told West that she did not remember anything from the party, to which he laughed in response.
He is said to have told her: ‘Women love to say they don’t remember’, before changing the subject.
He has been labelled a ‘premeditative and sadistic groomer’ who has taken advantage of his superstardom to fuel his ‘insatiable sexual gratification’ and ‘animalistic desires’ with ‘little boundaries’.
West married Censori, 29, two years ago. The Australian architectural designer met him when she began working at Yeezy in November 2020.
Their relationship has been a hot topic ever since they were first spotted together, with Censori frequently seen in public wearing extremely revealing outfits while her spouse is fully clothed.
In her lawsuit, Piscotta claims West sent her a screenshot on September 28, 2022, of a text chain between him and his wife, talking about having sex with her mother.
‘I want to f**k your mom. Before she leaves,’ he wrote, as per the suit.
He asked Pisciotta: ‘Should I add I meant I want you to watch me f**k your mom?’
‘Is [young A-list fashion model] better for me than [different A-list fashion model]? How do I tell her I need to f**k her mom baaad’.
While shooting for the campaign, West headed for breaks, during which he instructed wife Censori and other female guests to perform oral sex on him and fellow men in the changing rooms.
He later boasted about this to Pisciotta, as well as the time in June 2022 when he allegedly drank a bottle of wine with a model before inserting it into her vagina.
‘I feel like you could be a spectator… I just feel like she needs an audience. A beautiful audience lol,’ he wrote, the lawsuit claimed.
Other disconcerting texts sent from West to Piscotta include the time she was delayed with travel due to work visas.
Saying he wanted to go back to Los Angeles, he wrote: ‘Aaaaaaaaand there’s soooo much p***y in LA I may rent a room, take the honey pack, drink some tequila and just take appointments…
‘I’m a great guy and dad. But I love bad b***hes and I love the f*k the s**t outa bad b***hes and make them fall in love too.’
Pisciotta makes several other claims about West abusing his connections at high-profile brands, such as Adidas and Gap, to get women into the US on work visas so he could sleep with them.
They were given ‘obscure job titles’ at his companies and made to sign non-disclosure agreements.
However, he is believed to have been ‘brazenly open’ with Pisciotta and other staff about what happened, divulging ‘grotesque details’, including telling them that he filmed his sexual encounters to ‘get the full picture’.
The lawsuit also claims West often ‘offered up’ his sexual partners, employees, and women he trafficked as ‘gifts’ to his friends and colleagues.
Pisciotta claimed he tried to ‘gift’ her too, but was unsuccessful.
•’EFCC’s silence on Ganduje despite monumental corruption allegations no longer golden’
A Coalition of 30 Anti-corruption Civil Society Organizations have called for the resignation of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, over his alleged failure to prosecute a former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, despite multiple petitions against him on multi-billion naira fraud and bribery allegations.
The CSOs, under the umbrella, “Global Initiative for Corruption Eradication”, also called for the immediate arrest of Ganduje, who they said had no immunity, but was allegedly enjoying the cover of the Federal Government through the EFCC.
The spokesperson for GICE, Comrade Anthony Onoja, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Friday, said, “N50billion diverted LGA funds, dollar video and N1billion naira probe seem to have all been swept under the carpet. It’s been over 2,200 days since the dollar video scandal broke and yet EFCC is silent.”
The activists urged well meaning Nigerians and relevant international organizations to join in stopping the EFCC from further insulting the sensibilities of Nigerians by calling for the immediate arrest and prosecution of Ganduje.
“The chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) must resign from his position if he fails to arrest and prosecute Governor Ganduje in line with our extant laws.
“The continued silence of the EFCC despite the monumental corruption allegations against Ganduje, despite the many petitions, the avalanche of evidence(s) available and protest from various groups and the Kano state government to probe and bring Ganduje to book is no longer golden. It also negates its constant rebuttal of keeping sacred cows.
“The general perception of Nigerians now is that the EFCC, as it is, has abandoned its original mandate by becoming a political tool in the hands of the government of the day for eliminating political rivals and perceived enemies,” Onoja said.
He added that the EFCC was now seen by Nigerians as a major conduit of misappropriation of public funds and a tool for political persecution.
“While these perceptions have become increasingly prevalent, the agency has further justified and vindicated the majority of Nigerians that hold this view with its recent selective prosecution of alleged corrupt public officers; and allowing very corrupt ones to walk free after suppressing the wheel of justice from taking its full effect against them.
“An example of these sacred cows that have continued to walk free despite the monumental corruption allegations against him is the former governor of Kano and current National chairman of the ruling party, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje,” the activists said.
They stated: “It would be recalled that the Kano High Court was to arraign the former Kano Governor, Umaru Ganduje and his wife on April 17, 2024, over allegations of bribery and misappropriation of funds by the state government. Neither he nor his wife went to court. They also disrespected the court so much that they didn’t send a legal representation.
“The case was adjourned to 29th April but was stalled again. No representation, no appearance. Ganduje was not present. The case was again adjourned to May 16, and on that day, arraignment was rescheduled to June 5. Still, the former governor, who no longer has immunity under our extant laws and is not above the laws of Nigeria by virtue of being the Chairman of the ruling party, did not show up. No representation still.
“The last arraignment was supposed to be July 11. At the resumed proceedings on July 11, Ganduje and his co-defendants were again absent. The judge declined a prayer by the prosecution counsel for a warrant of arrest but ruled that the defendants could be tried in absentia.”
According to them, while the creation of the EFCC by the Obasanjo administration was greeted with commendations, EFCC has derailed.
“Finally, our group is of the considered view that perhaps if the EFCC in its current form is disbanded because of its constitutional illegality as pointed out by the states in the current case against the EFCC at the Apex Court, it would be able to perform its real functions of stamping out corruption when its law is properly enacted,” the CSOs added.